Time and tide wait for no man – or pandemic! As the clock ticks through year 2020, the world grudgingly trudges along towards an ambiguous future. By July, worldwide Covid-19 cases had exceeded 11, 7 million, with over 580,618 deaths. Many questions remain without answers – what are the drivers of Covid-19 infection and mortality rates; when will life go back to ‘normal’; and what will the new ‘normal’ be? Many industries have accepted a grim 2020. Regardless of the industry, business leaders and managers are lying awake at night faced with a new dilemma – how do you ensure the survival of your organisation beyond 2020 and are your teams equipped and skilled to work remotely? Whenever the world gets back to ‘normal’, some organisations will decide that working remotely actually has a lot of advantages.
Choosing to stay remote may not be the right option for every organisation. However, if you are at a crossroads or are pondering over how to become a more efficient, cohesive and productive remote working team, then these posts are for you.
- The Future of Work Post Covid-19 – Should Your Organisation Go Remote?
- Going Remote – Smoothening the Transition
- Managing Performance within a Distributed Workforce
- Motivation and Communication Strategies for Remote Working, and
- Building and Maintaining Culture in a Remote Workforce
In this series, we will explore those issues, starting here with the crucial question – should your organisation go remote?
The Future of Work Post Covid-19 – Should Your Organisation Go Remote?
Today’s uncertain environment is forcing organisations to adopt new ways of work in order to survive. The problem is this way of working and performing does not come naturally to everyone. The structures of our sub-Saharan organisations were not built for remote working, for the most part. Granted, significant parts of some organisations cannot benefit from this model – yet. Manufacturing, personal care services, medicine, to name a few. Those business models must be explored differently. However, what is apparent is that these new work trends are not temporary. Key components of successful business continuity plans will need to include new models of work.
So, let us start with the primary question: is remote working a suitable model for your organisation? To nudge you along the journey of self-awareness, we have explored below some reasons why this model may work for you.
- An Overheads Realignment Strategy
Business and human resource practitioners are seized with how to sustain organisations through 2020 and beyond. In most countries, Covid-19 and its mandatory testing of employees and providing PPE’s, looming retrenchments and layoffs, among other things, have increased the cost of labour in very real terms. On top of that, the necessary non-pharmaceutical interventions required to provide a safe working environment, such as social distancing and shift reengineering, unfortunately reduce revenues for most organisations.
If this sounds like you, remote working may provide some immediate relief. With many Sub-Saharan countries still in a lockdown of sorts, much of the employees’ time is spent commuting, at risk of exposure to themselves and the organisation. This commute time could be productive time were the employee not required to report physically to the office daily.
A holistic review of benefit structures may show opportunity for rearrangement. Some traditional benefits, such as fuel or transport allowances, canteen meals etc., could be substituted with bandwidth and devices required for connectivity, often with some savings.
Medium to long term, provisions such as uniforms, office space and equipment, office land lines, staff buses etc. – all of which constitute a significant portion of staffing and operating costs – need not be provided or may be reduced. There is a business case to be made around the rapidly falling global ratings of open plan offices vs employee productivity and business costs – perhaps now is the time to jump on the bandwagon!
There are many cost centres one could review holistically and many ratios that could be turned around positively if organisations need not focus on bringing (most) employees to a central location. An advantage not to be overlooked is the administrative relief this would bring to managers and a refocusing of the business on performance rather than frills. Global Workplace Analytics, in the Analysis of 2005-2017 American Community Survey (US Census Bureau) established that USD11,000 was saved annually by companies per employee allowed to work from home half the time. (https://www.merchantsavvy.co.uk/remote-working-statistcs/)
- Access to Talent Just a Click Away
Remote working as a business model renders enlisting of geographically distant talent an immediate possibility. The organisation can tap into the best minds, anywhere, without the traditional high relocation costs. Where this is a possibility across the organisation, such a practice nurtures a spirit of inclusion, diversity and boosts employee morale. Uprooting the lives of an employee and his entire entourage – kids, schools, spouses and their careers – becomes unnecessary and costs are restricted to periodic face to face team meetings.
- Flexible Working
It is a fact that employees and managers alike have lives beyond work, which lives often have to be awkwardly integrated with the mandatory workday. Working remotely, employees are measured by delivery rather than attendance. They are freed up to attend that ballet show at their child’s school or that afternoon prayer meeting at their church, and work at a time that suits them best. It is also a fact that some individuals are larks, who prefer an early day, while others are owls, whose passions and creativity are best unleashed late in the night. Working remotely allows each employee to pace themselves to optimise their output. Pairing work schedules with spouses or significant family members, such as a wife who is a nurse on night duty, becomes a possibility, without the added costs of two drives to and from work. Employees feel more in control and treated as adults – for as long as they meet their deadlines. A win-win!
- Employee Motivation Soars
Many studies have shown that remote working has valuable effects on employee productivity and general wellbeing. A Harvard Business Review article of August 14, 2019 points to a 2017 study that proved that the average worker was willing to accept 8% less pay for the option to work from home. The magazine makes further reference to a 2015 experiment in a Chinese travel agency, where call centre employees were shifted to working from home. The result? A 13% increase in productivity, thanks to a reduction in break time and sick days plus a more comfortable work environment. (https://www.google.com/amp/s/hbr.org/amp/2019/08/is-it-time-to-let-employees-work-from-anywhere)
- A Culture of Accountability
Remote working augers well with specific character traits; discipline and the ability to self-manage. Curiosity and willingness to adopt new digital tools and platforms is necessary. Not all employees are hard-wired to work remotely. The good news is these traits can be built and strengthened and will help all employees become better professionals.
The traits listed as necessary for successfully working remotely are summarised as:
- flexibility
- goal orientation,
- good citizenry,
- open-mindedness,
- organising skills,
- self-confidence,
- social awareness; and
- work ethic.
Any organisation would be pleased to keep a core component of its staff with such traits.
6. Short, Concise Meetings
There is a striking contrast between the length of meetings pre and post Covid-19! It is hard – well, for most people – to ramble on and hog the talk space during online meetings. It is awkward to conduct the online meeting yourself without affording other teammates opportunities to contribute and comment. Enter the new era of shorter workplace meetings where those who love the sound of their voices have had their tails somewhat clipped! It goes without saying that meetings become more productive, output focused and – dare we say – cheaper (less coffee, muffins and extended time away from the coal face)!
Having considered the advantages of “going remote” next we will be looking at “how to smoothen the Transition” for your organisation. Keep an eye out.
